Computer Programming

Clearly I have a pretty big passion for programming. I have been dabbling in game programming from the moment I started programming altogether. Over the years I have written a few different versions of an asteroids game called "Space Spuds" (Geoff Pearlman of REAL Software said the asteroid sprites looked like potatoes); one in REALbasic, one in C using SpriteWorld, and I started a third which was never finished using Torque 2D. Most recently, I created a multiplayer tetris game in two days as part of an iDevGames contest which has proven quite addictive with fellow members of the community.

Mountain Biking

My buddy Paul and I picked up mountain biking in March of 2008, and it has been quite a blast. Two months later, we have still only been to one particular location (about a dozen times), an 8 mile loop with about 500 feet of elevation change through Santiago Oaks, Weir Canyon, and Irvine Regional Park. It has a pretty technical downhill section near the end of loop which is quite challenging and rewarding. We've both had pretty big spills recently (I dislocated my shoulder) so there's been a bit of offtime for recovery.

Racing

More so than programming, auto racing is my passion. Sadly, it's an expensive hobby and even more expensive to start as a career, but I am able to do enough to continually be reminded I need to do more. My dad started doing club racing back in 1998, in his ever-more-modified 1997 Eagle Talon TSi. We started a racing website called TurnFast.com with articles on how to become a better racing driver, which is still popular to this day.

I've driven the Talon twice at Buttonwillow (near Bakersfield), and once at the California Speedway on the infield track (which also uses about half of the oval), but sadly the car was retired to the garage for two years for various reasons. The car has recently been ressurected and is now once again smogged and street legal, despite having no windows and hardly an interior. Track days to come once again soon.

Karting, has been a spectacular pick-me-up for the lack of not being able to race the Talon on the road courses. In April 2007 I was able to attend a "demo" day for the CRG chassis / Rotax engine package for the Rotax Max Challenge Series out in Perris. Despite the downpour of rain and lack of rain tires, I was blown away by how fast a true racing kart can be and was hooked. Over the next six months I went to four all-day driving events with the karts and had an absolute riot, particularly at the now-closed Moran Raceway, the best kart track there ever was.